US honour for RTI activist

CHENNAI: Noted RTI activist and Guinness Book record holder Subhash Agarwal has been conferred Giraffe Hero award by a US-based NGO The Giraffe Heroes Project. The project is a non-profit group which honours the “risk-takers, people who are largely unknown, people who have the courage take risks for the common good”, in the US and around the world.In a message to Agrawal, the group said,”Your brave but selfless acts of utilising the RTI Act, for public good and sticking your neck out despite innumerable challenges has made/is making, we feel a significant impact on the governance of our various organisations.”
Earlier, the following people from India were honoured with the award. They are Baba Amte, Dr Mabelle Arole, Jaya Arunachalam, C P Bhatt, Ela Bhatt, Neha Gupta, Sunitha Krishnan, Usha Narayane, Bunker Roy, Vijay Saluja and G Venkatasamy.
The award will be conferred to Agrawal, a known figure for filing RTI pleas on various issues, on January 22 at a public function at the School of Inspired Leadership, Gurgaon.
Agrawal (65) holds the Guinness record of filing highest number of published letters to the editors besides his RTI applications has delivered some important orders like declaration of assets by Supreme Court judges, bringing political parties under the RTI act among others. eom